Wall structure



May 30, 1939. B. E. BALDUF 2,160,711;

I WALL STRUCTURE "Filed Nov. 19, 1936 Patented May 30, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,100,111 WALL smoc'ronn Bruno E. Baidnf, Chicago, Ill., assignor to United States Gypsum Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application November 19, 1936, semi No. 111,701

2 Claims.

' in fireproof structures, although it may be used in any type of wall structure wherein wall boards are secured to spaced supports, such as studdin or furring strips, and are supported and held in alignment by means of clips engaging the edges and comers of theboards. The plaster boards may be ofany suitable size. However, they are usually 48 inches long and, 16 inches wide in order that staggered joints may occur in application to studding or furring strips orother supports which, in wooden structures, are usually spaced 16 inches apart, and it has been common practice to erect plaster bases by-nailing the wall board'directly to wooden studding.

When it is desired to erect fireproof structures, or when for any reason metal supports are used,

' it is necessary to provide other means for securing the wall boards in place, and various fastening methods and means have been suggested; One method is to provide spaced holes through the plasterboard adjacent the supports. A wire is then passed around the support and through the holes, and the ends of the wire are twisted or tied together against the face of the board. This method has many objections. is necessary for the manufacturer to provide a special and more expensive type of wall board, or the workman applying the boards must punch holes therein to conform to the particular type of supports and their spacing. Furthermore, it has been found that the wire cuts the plaster board, particularly at the edges of the holes, and it is necessary to provide metal shields or guards under the wire and preferably extending into the 40 holes.

Various types of aligning and supporting clips have been suggested. I'hese clips engage the edges of the plaster board and are provided with rearwardly extending portions formed integrally therewith or welded thereon and intended to be nailed to the supports or resiliently clipped thereon. A special type of clip is'ordinarlly" required which is usually not reversible, and the workman must learn a new technique for. its proper application. Also, such clips are not suitable for universal use, particularly for alignment of the boards where joints occur between supports and where aligning clips only are required. They are usually made to fit only one type of channel or support and, when other types are used, the clips may be either-too loose, causing trouble during plastering, or they may not fit at.ali.-"'

Attempts have been made to introduce various clip systems and methods whereby the plaster boards maybe secured to the supports and to edu- For instance, it.

cate the lathers in their use. However, all of these systems conflict with the natural experience of the lather who applies the plaster base, and it has been very diflicult to induce the lathers to use any system or method of building a plaster base with which they are not familiar. The lathers have maintained that it requires more time to erect these clip systems than to nail the plaster board to the usual wooden studding. Therefore,

while the clip system presents many advantages,

it has not been universally accepted by the builders.

The so-called clip-onfsystems have had only local success except when erected by the manufacturer. Whenever an attempt is made to spread the use of these systems to others, they are very apt to fail, as it is practically impossible to educate all lathers except gradually over a number of years. To do this is costly and is only possible if the system gives the ultimate customer great benefits in improved wall characteristics at very nominal cost over standard nail-on work.

The lathers and builders have, however, been educated over a number of years to a method of applying expanded metal lath whereby the lath is wired directly to the supports; that is, short pieces or loops of wire are placed around the supports with their ends extending through the meshes of the metallath and these ends are twisted to hold the lath snugly against the supports.

The present invention is directed to a system adapted for securing plaster board or wall board to suitable supports by the use .of a tying method in which the tie per se is familiar to all lathers and may be accomplished in the usual manner of tying expanded metal lath to supports, although the combinations and the relationship of the component parts of the structure are believed'to be new in the art and provide a new and novel system for erecting a plaster base comprising the usual wall board or plaster board. I

It is an object of the'invention to provide a method of wall construction whereby a plaster base may be provided by simple and economical methods and manual operations similar to the usual manual operations of a lather in constructing an ordinary expanded metal lath base, and

with practically no additional cost over the usual wall board nail-on construction; also, whereby the clips, boards, and supportsmay be of standard types already in common use and capable of interchangeable application in any of the usual relationships.

A further object is the provision of a wall board plaster base whereby the board elements may be secured in alignment by means of clips therebetween and in which the clips themselves are secured to the supports by a means and method which are conveniently adaptable to supports of various sizes and designs. The invention contemplates a structure whereby substantially no special education of the lather along unfamiliar lines is required;

In many instances it is desirable to use boards of such length that the joints do not align with the supports, also the supports are not always spaced to standard dimensions. Therefore the edges of the boards must be clipped together or otherwise held 'in alignment between the supports. This may be accomplished by the use of standard clips such as illustrated in the drawing and it is an important object of this invention to provide a wall structure and method of building a plaster base wherein standard materials may be used throughout and the same type of interchangeable clips may be used for aligning the overhanging ends and edges of wall boards and also for securing the boards to the supports and supporting and aligning the entire plaster base, whereby boards of various lengths may be used in the same wall and the same clips are interchangeable for securing and aligning or merely for aligning.

The invention contemplates a method which enables the construction of a plaster base by the use of a minimum number of standard elements, all well known to the trade and interchangeable for cooperation in various assembled relationships to conform with individual requirements;

Further objects will be apparent from the specification and the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of an assembled plaster base and illustrates one embodiment of the invention.

. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the clips'secured to a support and having adjacent plaster boards aligned therein;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on a line substantially corresponding to line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical detafl sectional view taken.

on a line substantially corresponding to line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the embodiment illustrated comprises spaced supports I. These supports are preferably in the form of channels having a web 2 and flanges 3. The supports may, of course, be of any suitable type and may be mounted as studding or as furring strips in the ordinary manner.

Metal clips 4 are provided with a fiat body portion 5 and outstanding fingers 8 and I, which ,latter form opposed channels for engaging adjacent edges and corners of the usual wall boards or plaster boards I.

The aligning clips 4 may be of a standard type well known in the art and the back fingers I are preferably fiat to enable the clip to be placed snugly against the support I. The front fingers may be curved outwardly at their ends to enable easy entrance of the board.

The clips 4 are secured to the supports by means of flexible wire ties I- which are looped around the support I and the body of the clip,

and the ends are twisted or tied against the face of the clip in the usual well-known manner of tying the wires used in supporting expanded metal lath. A single strand offlexible wire may be used; however, at least two strands are pref- I erable, and the tie may be formed by doubling a single strand on itself and using the doubled strand as a single tie.

In constructing the wall, the lower row of boards may be supported in various ways-by special stud seats supporting the stud or channel and also the lower edge of the boardsor the loweredge may be secured by clips tied to the studding if desired. Each clip may then be placed against the face of a studding above the adjacent board and the wire placed around the studding with the ends extending forwardly between the flngers of the clip and preferably on opposite sides of the base 5. The ends may then be hooked loosely together and the clip slid downwardly over the lower board, and the ends of the tie twisted snugly. The next board is then inserted and the process repeated.

The clip is so attached to the studding that it may be moved therealong without becoming detached therefrom and'when properly positioned and the tie wire tightened it will remain permanently in place. Furthermore, the adjustment of 7 the plaster base is in place.

The routine may, of course, be varied somewhat, but in any event the tying operation is one with which all lathers are familiar. It will be apparent that the clips are reversible without changing the relationship of the tie or the method of tying. Also, the same clips are used for engaging corners of the boards at the joints III as shown in Fig. 1, or they may be used merely for aligning the boards and reinforcing the wall when joints occur between studding as shown at H.

The invention provides many advantages in the use of standard materials, flexibility of construction, econo y, and adaptability to the preformed habits and previously acquired knowledge and skill of the lathen.

Modifications may be made to adapt the invention for various requirements without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is desired,

therefore, that the invention be limited only by the prior art and the scope of the appended claims.

' Having thus described this invention, what is claimed and desired to be seemed by Letters Patent is:

1. In a wall structure, the combination of a series of supports, plaster-receiving boards, board-engaging devices embracing the edges of said boards and being capable of embracing the edges of adjacent boards so as to fasten them together in aligned relationship. and connecting means holding said devices to said supports. said connecting means being looped around said supports and secured on the side of the boards opposite the supports.

2. In a wall structure, the combination of a series of supports, plaster-receiving boards, board-engaging clips having fingers embracing the edges of said boards and being capable of em- .bracing the edges of adjacent boards so as to posite the supports.

BRUNO E. BALDUF. 

